Fleeing driver sought in crash that killed teen on scooter

1of8Viviana Alarcon (left) and Sky Zaste mourn the loss of their friend Ivan Cruz at a memorial on the corner of Ashland Avenue and East 14th Street near San Leandro, where the boy was killed ny a hit-and-run driver Tuesday.Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

2of8Ivan Cruz, 14, died Tuesday evening after being struck by a car at E. 14th Street and Ashland Ave. that was being chased by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies.Photo: Courtesy Viviana Alarcon

3of8Wilbur Spears brought his three grandchildren, Tahri, 2, Tristin, 3 and Thomas Hughes III, 4 to the scene of the accident, as a memorial grows at the corner of Ashland Ave. and East 14th St. on Wednesday Nov. 12, 2014 in San Leandro, Calif., after 14-year-old Ivan Cruz was struck and killed by a driver fleeing from Alameda County Sheriff's deputies last evening. The three kids used to play with Cruz in Ashland Village where they all lived.Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

4of8Sky Zaste mourns the loss of his longtime friend at a memorial grows on the corner of Ashland Ave. and East 14th St. on Wednesday Nov. 12, 2014 in San Leandro, Calif., after 14-year-old Ivan Cruz was struck and killed by a driver fleeing from Alameda County Sheriff's deputies last evening.Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

5of8Laura Larios, (left) and her daughter Viviana Alarcon, a close friend of the victim and Sky Zaste, also a close friend arrange at the corner of Ashland Ave. and East 14th St. on Wednesday Nov. 12, 2014 in San Leandro, Calif., after 14-year-old Ivan Cruz was struck and killed by a driver fleeing from Alameda County Sheriff's deputies last evening.Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

6of8Viviana Alarcon mourns the loss of her classmate and close friend Ivan Cruz.Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

7of8A 14-year-old boy died Tuesday evening after being struck by a car at E. 14th Street and Ashland Ave. that was being chased by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies.Photo: Google Maps

8of8A memorial grows at the corner of Ashland Ave. and East 14th St. on Wednesday Nov. 12, 2014 in San Leandro, Calif., after 14-year-old Ivan Cruz was struck and killed by a driver fleeing from Alameda County Sheriff's deputies last evening.Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle

Fourteen-year-old Ivan Cruz was on his scooter in a crosswalk near his San Leandro home when a driver in a Saturn came hurtling toward him on East 14th Street with Alameda County sheriff’s deputies not far behind, their sirens wailing.

The man behind the wheel was driving south in a northbound lane when he suddenly swerved at the Ashland Avenue intersection, ran a red light and slammed into Ivan.

The impact Tuesday evening sent the San Lorenzo High School freshman and the scooter he had received as a Christmas present into the air. Ivan died at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, devastating his family and friends and renewing questions about the safety of police pursuits.

On Wednesday, anguished friends paid their respects at a memorial at the crash site as investigators cast a wide net for the driver. The California Highway Patrol found a car matching the description of the one that hit Ivan off Interstate 880 in Fremont.

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“We are working some leads, and we are bound and determined to catch this guy,” said sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson. “Believe me when I tell you the sheriff’s investigators are actively checking all leads to bring this person to justice.”

The incident began just before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when a deputy tried to pull over the driver of the maroon 2001 Saturn for alleged reckless driving on Blanco Street near San Leandro, authorities said.

The man refused to stop and took a circuitous route through the unincorporated Ashland neighborhood, fleeing from at least two deputies at speeds that one reported ranged from 45 mph to 65 mph.

Just before the crash, the driver was heading south in a northbound lane of East 14th Street, said witness Selesa Vele, 50, who was sitting in her car at a red light at the Ashland Avenue intersection while heading to a church meeting.

The driver was heading right for Vele, she said, but swerved into the southbound lanes at the last second and hit Ivan as he was halfway across the street on his scooter.

The impact sent Ivan into the air, and he landed near a bus stop. “I tried to tell the boy to hold on,” Vele said. “I was just screaming.”

Chase ended

The deputies broke off the pursuit after the crash. They were shaken by what happened and were sent home, Nelson said. Their names have not been released.

Nelson said a preliminary review showed that deputies had acted properly during the chase.

“This is very difficult,” Nelson said. “When you come into this line of work, you want to help people, and to have something like this happen during your shift, on our watch, an innocent 14-year-old boy gets killed by a guy who doesn’t care one iota about the public — he only cares about himself.”

Pursuit policy

The sheriff’s office pursuit policy allows deputies to chase drivers who could range from traffic violators to murder suspects, Nelson said. But many factors can contribute to a chase decision, including the time of day, weather conditions, the suspect’s speed and driving behavior, and whether deputies have already identified the suspect and can track him down later, Nelson said.

He noted that deputies have had seconds-long pursuits that have resulted in serious injury or death, and 20-minute chases that ended with the suspect in custody without incident.

On Tuesday night, one of the deputies chasing the Saturn reported that traffic was light to moderate, according to dispatch recordings reviewed by The Chronicle. A sergeant was also monitoring the pursuit.

'Difficult balance’

Nelson said deciding whether to chase a fleeing driver “is a difficult balance. But ultimately, the responsibility is the person’s that fails to pull over. It is this suspect’s actions that killed this little boy, his actions and his actions alone.”

He added, “It’s pretty well known in the criminal world that if you’re in a car, the crazier you drive, the more likely the police are not going to chase you.”

Priscilla Everett, whose son was Ivan’s friend, said the boy’s mother, Lydia Ortiz, rushed to the scene and saw her son’s body in the street but was not allowed to approach him.

Through tears, Ortiz told reporters, “He was my life, my world. He was everything for me.”

Ortiz and her family have no ill will toward the driver or sheriff's deputies, Everett said. “They’re not upset at anybody,” she said. “They’re just shocked, and they do have concerns that the sheriff did not consider the public when they’re doing high-speed chases. To point blame or fault, they’re not worried about that. But do they want justice? Yes.”

Psychologists were on hand Wednesday at San Lorenzo High, where Ivan’s older sister is also a student, and at Edendale Middle School, his previous campus, around the corner from the crash site.

San Lorenzo High Principal Tovi Scruggs dropped off flowers for the family, and a memorial of candles, flowers and stuffed animals sat at the site where Ivan was hit.

Several people wrote remembrances on a paper skateboard in honor of Ivan, who enjoyed skateboarding.

“He was really friendly. He was so respectful,” said Viviana Alarcon, 14, a classmate who regularly skated with Ivan. “He’s like one of those kids where you’re down, and he would just make you really happy.”

Henry K. Lee has been a reporter for KTVU-TV since 2015. Prior to that he worked for the San Francisco Chronicle for more than a decade. He covers breaking news, crime, courts and aviation. He has appeared on television and radio programs to discuss high-profile cases and is the author of "Presumed Dead — A True-Life Murder Mystery," about the Hans Reiser murder case in Oakland.

He studied premed at UC Berkeley before graduating with a psychology major and was a reporter and editor at the Daily Californian student newspaper on campus.